Surprises on the back roads

Sunday 22^nd May

We decided to have a fairly quiet day today after our long drive yesterday and just do a short drive to the towns of Henneport and Port Louis. Our first job for the day was to try and get some fuel – there is a fuel strike on with most service stations closed or with no diesel. We have had no luck today so won’t be going too far tomorrow unless we can get fuel in the town here.

Henneport is on a river and Port Louis on the coast. Again the focal point of the village is the church which has a very impressive spire. I thought the river would be a bit more picturesque but it was low tide so looked a bit dirty. Henneport was an old fortified village and we were able to walk around the ramparts and get some lovely views. In the town square we found two roadside stalls selling oysters so we bought a kilo for Rob for dinner (about $7). Rob is in heaven food wise here as he loves fish and shellfish of all sorts. We also ventured in to the charcuterie (butcher) and bought something to cook for dinner.

Walking the ramparts at Henneport

Beautifully kept gardens along the walls

The church in Henneport

We drove on to Port Louis which had a large fortified citadel on the entrance to the bay. This dates back to Louis XIII in 1618. There is a Spanish influence in parts of the town from the late 1500s and in the 19^th century Queen Amelie brought it to fame as a seaside resort. We had lunch here at a restaurant on the foreshore – Rob had his moules et frites (mussels and fries) and I had fish. They spoke no English at the restaurant so some of the communication was a bit difficult but we got by.

Part of the fortifications at Port Louis

Waiting for his moules et frites - and he gave a few little whines while waiting

Next stop was the town of Auray where we really just had a drive through. 

Medieval buildings in Auray

Still no fuel so we decided to head for home. Shortest route please Dora. This took us to the surprising village of St Anne d’Auray where there is a large basilica with gardens and a memorial to the 240,000 Bretagnes lost in the 1^st world war. St Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary and is the adopted saint of Brittany and also the patron saint of women. We had a quick tour through the complex but decided we would come back this way again and have a good look at the village. The inside of the cathedral was beautiful but we couldn’t take photos as there was a service happening.

The basilica in St Anne D'Auray

A memorial to the 240,000 Bretons lost in WWI. All around the garden is a wall with over 8,000 names on it. Apparently they only listed names of those who could pay the fee and some families opted for just the family name to represent all members of the family.

The statue of St Anne

Onwards through the real village roads towards home – at one point the road was closed so we handed over to Dora who took us along a few goat tracks to get back on the main route. Rob loved it as he zipped along. We arrived back in the town of Locmine and found ourselves in the middle of a cycling event. It was funny to watch the organised chaos at the road closure – one said go, then stop then waved quick, quick, while another was having a loud discussion with someone who wasn’t happy that he was stopped.

We have fallen in love with France all over again. We love being off the main roads and exploring all the little villages, and we get so many surprises as we travel these back roads. We hadn't seen St Anne D'Auray on any tourist information but so glad we found it. 

Not a great day weatherwise - it started off overcast but seemed to clear a little and warmed up a bit. It wasn't to last though as it started raining around lunchtime and continued to rain all afternoon. I have a line full of wet washing so hope for a better day tomorrow.